Featured Initiatives : Miami Dade School Telehealth
Miami Dade School Telehealth
The UM Department of Family Medicine’s John T. MacDonald Foundation and UM TeleHealth have implemented an initiative to use telemedicine in Miami-Dade County public schools.
In June of 2010, six schools in the North Miami Beach school district served as the launching sites for this intitiative. The purpose was to improve the access and quality of health services available to school children in the underserved communities of North Miami Beach. The telehealth initiative builds on an existing school-based health program that has been in operation for nearly a decade —the John T. MacDonald Foundation School Health Initiative.
Figure 1. Miami-Dade schools’ nurse presenters demonstrate the use of a digital camcorder during a live teleconsultation.
The goals of telehealth are:
- to minimize travel time for physicians and parents;
- decrease the amount of time that children are absent from the classroom;
- and enable the provision of pediatric subspecialty care on site.
Telehealth equipment was installed in six North Miami Beach schools (two high schools, one middle school, and three elementary schools). The family medicine physician (and program’s medical director) is located at the middle school and provides pediatric primary care to the other five schools. Each school is staffed by nurses and social workers who are trained in the use of telemedicine equipment.
In addition to primary care evaluations, specialty care is available to this patient population. Under a grant provided by the Verizon Foundation, the specialties selected include Endocrinology, Dermatology, Psychiatry, and Nutrition Counseling.
Of the specialties selected, Dermatology consultations have been rendered with most frequency. Since the inception of the program, children with various skin conditions have benefited from access to a UM dermatologist. In most cases, the appointments are made within one week of the date of referral by the school’s family physician.
Acceptance and satisfaction expressed by the parents of the children seen to date has been 100%; Furthemore, parents have indicated that, without this technology, the child would likely not have received the care needed in a timely manner.
Related Publications and News
Miller School and Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Bring Telehealth to Miami-Dade Schools
UM TeleHealth Receives Verizon Foundation Grant to Support Miami-Dade School Telehealth
For more information about school telehealth, please contact:
Sonia Batista, RN, MS, RD, LD/N
Clinical Telehealth Coordinator
305-243-1135
sbatista@med.miami.edu